One Minute
by somewhataddicted
Summary: SuperCorp AU. Kara has longed to feel at home on Earth. Meeting Lena changed everything. Too bad Kara's secret tore them apart. Can she save Lena from the darkness and regain her love? Or will she die trying? My first Supergirl fic.


_SuperCorp AU. As if the Mon-el/Kara relationship hadn't happened. Bits and pieces from the show with some creative license. I looked it up, but not sure if 10 years is completely accurate for the time Kara is on Earth before she meets Lena, but should be close. If anyone knows for sure, please let me know where to find that info. First fic outside of the "Lost Girl" realm. Be gentle. Inspired by the song "16" by Highly Suspect and the S4 finale. TheInevitable1 has been wanting to watch "Supergirl" forever and TheSparklingBlue's art work finally reeled me in, so I hope you're both happy now LOL._

**One Minute**

Ten years. That's how long it took to feel whole again. Ten long years on Earth with an aching hole in her chest from a world lost and never having felt connected to anyone in that special way. Not for lack of effort, but humanity was, after all, an illusion for Kara. Not to mention a luxury. One she couldn't afford. There had always been a cost to getting attached or feeling settled, to the point she had never quite felt at home anywhere since she'd lost Krypton. Well, nowhere besides with Alex. No, to truly be who she was meant to be…to do the things Supergirl was meant to do…Kara Danvers had accepted certain vulnerabilities would have to be avoided, lest those she cared for pay the price.

It wasn't easy. The only thing she wanted more than using her gift, was some normalcy. That's why her CatCo job had always been so important. But love was another story. As much as she wanted someone to share her life with, it was too hard worrying about having to dash off or putting them in danger. She'd stood her ground, even when the temptation of a relationship with James Olsen had been there for the taking—a relationship that would've been free from the usual secret keeping. But no. Kara resigned that it wasn't only her body that was made of steel. Her resolve in pursuit of her higher purpose would be as well.

Until it wasn't. The lightning quick span of one second was all it had taken to fall in love with the most unlikely of people. Kara had walked into the L-Corp office a year ago expecting to write a story. Instead, she fell under the trance of the most hypnotic green eyes she'd ever seen. Funny, since green was usually a color she associated with excruciating pain, but here, only warmth and an uncanny amount of comfort filled her. Those eyes didn't just look at her, they saw into the depths of her, like x-ray vision, as if they could truly see the soul of her and only her, Kara Danvers.

Lena may have carried the arrogant confidence of a Luthor, but underneath that sharp power suit hugging every lovely curve, her perfectly arched brow, and jet-black hair pulled back into a meticulously tight, no-nonsense bun hid a compassionate humanitarian—a complete contradiction to all who had borne the name before her. Their instantaneous connection eradicated any and all thought of complications and Kara jumped in heart first.

Friendly meetups for coffees and dinners didn't take long to morph into a first date at karaoke night where they sang all night, including a duet of the Spice Girls song "Wannabe." If Kara had thought she were a goner before, standing on Lena's doorstep that night on the verge of a first kiss only proved she'd never wanted anything more.

"Kara?" Lena asked, hesitance causing her name to come out with a slight tremble.

"Yeah?" Kara returned just as fragile.

"Can I tell you what I want? What I really, _really _want?" The tone of Lena's voice, more confident than before, lowered with each word into a sultry purr. Her tongue darted across her lips.

Mesmerized, Kara nodded silently before she managed a whispered, "Of course. You can tell me anything."

Closing the distance, Lena's eyes dropped to Kara's mouth, then made a slow trek back up to meet her awed gaze. The most tender of touches caressed the angle of Kara's jaw, as if fearing the gesture could break her. If Lena only knew the truth. And it was right on the tip of Kara's tongue, begging to be released, but warm, full lips finding a home on her own stole them away.

Heart stopping. Breathtaking. A bigger jolt than anything Livewire had ever hit her with. There was a new kryptonite in Kara's life. Both could bring her to her knees, but unlike the rock from her home planet, this one had left her filled with the strength of ten yellow suns.

When Lena smiled against her lips, then slowly pulled away, Kara smiled in return. The corners of her mouth curled upward until her eyes crinkled with joy. "And here I thought you were wanting a zigazig ah."

A roaring laugh rumbled from them both. Lena pressed her body closer to Kara's, her hands looping loosely around Kara's neck. Savoring the heat radiating between them, Kara allowed her eyes to drift shut as her hands found purchase on Lena's curvy hips. Her senses heightened, she tuned in to the rapid pace of Lena's heart. It matched her own beat for beat. The moment was perfect.

Leaning in with a brush of her nose to Kara's cheek, Lena's breath tickled her ear as she whispered, "I believe that's the third date."

Turned out to be on their second date and for nearly a year their life together had been one of fairytales. Kara had found the fulfillment she'd long believed impossible. They were about to move in together. Kara had imagined proposing, and looking even further into their future, their wedding. Home was truly within reach.

Except for the one detail. One. Very. Important. Detail.

The night before moving day Kara had promised herself she'd reveal all. She'd even had it scripted. What she didn't have planned was the adorable way Lena had curled into her as they sat on her couch watching "Back To The Future" while Lena rambled on and on about the real life possibilities of the flux capacitor. Turns out, she'd even written a paper about it in high school science class. She'd considered trying to build one in her lab, but ethically, Lena believed it would only bring harm. Kara agreed, praised her girlfriend for her strong morals, and was promptly rewarded with a very seductive kiss below the ear.

An all-important moment of indecision had made her pause. The tension of a breath held drew Lena's eyes up to her with concern.

"What's wrong?"

Drowning in the unrestrained affection glowing in those precious greens, Kara's desires won out. "Nothing," she said. "I just love you so much." She lowered her head and escaped her worries in a kiss. There was always tomorrow.

Except there wasn't.

When Kara had arrived at her apartment to load her things, Lena stood in the middle of the room, eyes empty, red, and puffy and her body sagging as if her entire world had just crumbled. Kara rushed to her side, only for her touch to be rejected with a frighteningly frigid, "Don't."

The tone stopped Kara dead in her tracks. Her body may have been bullet proof, but dread easily penetrated her chest. "Lena, what's wrong?"

Her vacant stare looked right past Kara as she replied, "I saw Lex today. He shared a little secret."

One minute. That was all it took to lose her. Though to be honest, it had really been a series of minutes. One here. Another there. One by one, Kara's chances to reveal her truth had flittered away. Until there were none. Until the woman she loved, who had never known friendship, trust, or love…who had repeatedly admitted how important those things were to her…learned Kara's deepest secret. The anguished look in Lena's eyes would haunt Kara's dreams forever. The Arctic glare of a woman scorned that quickly followed pierced her heart like a kryptonite sword.

Seemed green really did equate to pain in her world.

And then the words Lena had spoken in a way that could only be described as cold, broken, and angry, "I don't let my guard down. Ever. But I did with you. I let you in and you lied to me. Every day."

What could she say to that? Kara had committed the ultimate betrayal in Lena's eyes and she would never forgive herself for being too afraid to be honest. For someone who prided herself on strength and principles, one weakness had destroyed something so precious it was as if she'd lost Krypton all over again. So Kara did the only thing she could, she let Lena go. It was the first time in her life she had given up without a fight, knowing it wouldn't be the last she'd heard from Lena Luthor.

Now, here they were after numerous confrontations, standing at arms-length apart and locked inside the impenetrable bubble Lena had concocted to keep the rest of the super hero rescue wagon helplessly on the other side. They could only watch. Hank, with his eyes blazing red. James, in all his metal glory with his shield limp at his hip. And then Alex, tears streaming down, screaming, fists pounding, not knowing that no sound could be heard inside, even with super hearing.

"No one can help you now." A sinister smirk crooked the corners of Lena's mouth.

Kara met the green eyes she still adored, even with bone-chilling hate emanating from them. Lillian would be so proud. She'd been right about everything. Kara's long-kept secret had driven Lena to this point.

"Just you and me. As it should be," Kara said, her voice steady, but her insides quaking with the force of a sonic boom.

"Always such bravado." The words were spoken with the eloquent disdain only a Luther could deliver. "If only your integrity had been as bold." Kara's humbled silence drew a sadistic smirk.

"You never asked me why."

With a laugh full of bitterness, Lena said, "Reasons are unnecessary. I trusted you with everything. You betrayed that trust. The end."

"I did," Kara acknowledged, the memory making her heart ache for the millionth time, every bit as powerful as watching her planet explode. "And I'll never forgive myself for tearing us apart, but…" She struggled for a steady breath. "I loved being your hero…as Kara Danvers, not Supergirl. Knowing just when you needed that pick me up coffee or surprising you with Chinese when you worked around the clock. Being that shoulder when you needed one. Those were things I could do without the cape. And the way you'd look at me each time…Rao, it meant the world to me. I didn't want that to end."

"Worked out well for you."

Bitterness coated Kara's tongue as she nodded sadly and gathered herself. "I just, um…wanted you to know that Supergirl is what I can do, but Kara is who I am. We are the same being, yet not at all. Still, no matter which shoes I wore, I have always loved you, always protected you. And I always will, whether you want me to or not."

"The only one who needs protection is you," Lena stated with cold certainty and a well-sculpted face of stone.

Kara's heart sank at the complete lack of empathy. There seemed to be no hope of breaking through, but she'd never give up trying. "Lena-"

"No! No more apologies. No more excuses. Nothing else. Just death."

"I won't fight you, Lena."

"Disappointing, but not unexpected. Ever the optimist you are, thinking I'll have a change of heart. Too bad you shattered mine, Girl of Steel," she spat, eyes narrowing and gloved fists clenching into tightly bound balls. "You will pay dearly for turning me into the very thing I vowed to never become. The world loves to hate a Luthor and I'm going to give them the best reason yet when I end the Champion of Earth."

"You really think that will make you feel better?"

"Kara, darling," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Nothing will make me _feel_ better. I don't feel anything anymore. I prefer to think of it as retribution."

"Whatever gets you through the night."

"Oh, I think this will do the trick."

No sooner had the last word been spoken than Lena's fist struck Kara dead center in her chest. The supercharged glove sent her flying into the barrier wall, then crumbling to the ground like so many of the villains Supergirl had toppled in her day. Kara clamored for breath, vision blurred and head spinning as she gingerly maneuvered onto all fours. Another crippling blow, this time to her back, lands her face first on the floor. A boot to the back of her neck pins her down. The urge to fight back was strong, so, so strong, but she buried it deep and allowed the hold on her to persist.

Clark had once told her she was the only one strong enough to make the really hard decisions. Was death the hard choice? She'd expected to die many times in the name of saving the world. This time she would do it for love. Or maybe this was the cowardly way out, not wanting to face a life without Lena. More specifically, not wanting to live with what she had done to Lena. Regardless, she would either find a way to bring the woman she loved back from the darkness, or she would die trying.

A slow burn trickled up Kara's right leg, making its way into her bloodstream. The burn faded, replaced by the agony of a million needles flowing through her veins. A scream of agony ripped through her. The only thing that hurt more was knowing Lena had manufactured the poison herself.

"Now you know how I felt when I learned the truth," Lena growled. "Hurts, doesn't it?" A humorless laugh filled the bubble. "They say the truth will set you free. I guess they were right. No longer do I have to live with the fear of what I might become."

Within seconds, Kara's body weakened. The effects of the small dose of kryptonite were not fatal, but enough to even the fight should she choose to engage. However, words were the only engagement she'd choose. She just hoped they'd be as powerful as her fists once were.

"What, you don't have the guts to look me in the eyes when you kill me? You really are a Luthor. Cowards, every single one."

The momentary shift of weight proved she had hit the right chord. Lena still had the desire to be better than the others, even if it was in pursuit of Kara's death. Still, there was hope, however little. The sudden release of pressure allowed a full breath, but relief was short lived. The same boot made solid contact with her shoulder before she was shoved onto her back. Like a lioness on her wounded prey, Lena instantly crouched over her, a deadly smile upon blood red lips, every muscle strained in preparation of the final blow and green eyes barely visible beyond the blackness of pupils dilated with need—a different kind of need than the last time they had been in this position, with Lena grinding against her, breath heavy and muscles coiled on the precipice of release. It had been the most beautiful thing to witness. How ironic for that to be the last thing she'd see.

Tears stung her eyes and a lump the size of Krypton clogged her throat. Fighting to focus through the blinding pain, Kara looked at Lena—honestly and truly looked at her, scorching eyes, aura of rage, and all. "You're so beautiful," Kara managed to choke out. "So beautiful. And on my journey to join my family under Rao's rays I'll think of you, of us, making love for the first time on the blanket under the full moon. Your eyes were as dark as they are now, love shining in them like stars, and your bare body strained against mine as we rocketed toward the heavens together. That was the most perfect moment of my life. Thank you for giving me that."

A twitch of Lena's lip, waver of her eyes, but still the undeterred path of a glowing green kryptonite knife moved steadily closer to Kara's neck. The blade pressed against her collarbone, searing her flesh and taunting its purpose. A breech of skin was not needed for its ultimate goal. That would only speed up the inevitable.

"Too bad it was all a lie."

"No." Kara's voice came out steady, adamant. "Nothing has ever been more true in my life." With her strength fading like the last rays of day, she used what reserves she had left to grab Lena and pull her down into a bruising kiss that forced the dagger into her skin. The torturous burn of kryptonite scorching her didn't compare to the pain of the kiss unreturned.

Another scream ripped through her, more primal, more terminal, releasing Lena's lips from her own. Her head fell back, but she begged Rao for every bit of fight left in her to keep Lena close. With one last effort, she managed enough lift to look into those eyes again, certain it would be her last. The haze of hatred wasn't quite as thick. The shimmer of tears unshed glistened behind the facade of the snarl and use of deadly force.

Kara had one chance left, but even then, it might too late. "I've always chosen you, Lena. No matter your last name, the accusation, the danger, the consequences…I've always chosen you. And I always will. I will always believe in you. As Supergirl. As Kara Danvers. Doesn't matter if I have glasses on or not. I love you, Lena Luthor. Always remember that."

Giving in to the will of kryptonite, her arms grew heavy and begged to rest, but not before allowing her thumbs to brush across Lena's cheeks. At the sight of a single tear making it's escape down Lena's creamy white skin a small smile broke through the contorted expression that pain had evoked. Her body collapsed limp to the ground. The sound of her shallow breaths and slowing heart beat all she could hear until a shrill scream dripping with incomparable pain shook the walls of the barrier. The knife was pulled from her skin, clanging as it hit the ground somewhere across the room.

"Kara!"

The regret that carried in the quivering of Lena's voice brought Kara comfort. She had accomplished her mission. She had saved the woman she loved, even if she had failed to save herself. The end was near. She could feel it tugging at the edges of her vision, nipping at her heels. Rao's rays stretched toward her with waiting arms.

"No! You will not die today, Kara!"

Soft lips crushed her own, kissing with the fierceness of a desperate woman pleading for more time. "Fight for us, Kara," Lena whispered between hurried contacts, kissing her again and again with the tenderness of a lost love returned. "Like you always do." Her voice cracked around the words. "Like only _you_ were born to do, Kara Danvers."

Warm hands clasped Kara's chilled cheeks, soothing the suffering inside.

"I'm so sorry. Please, please stay with me."

Peace filled the empty space in her chest. The fear of never getting the chance again evaporated with the last of her strength. A long, labored breath flowed out as a smile claimed her lips. Then, her world went black.

**XXX**

Warmth enveloped her body like a motherly hug. A flash of memory struck—the searing pain of kryptonite in her flesh and a broken heart felt just as fresh now as it had then. Slivers of yellow light slowly leaked in as blue eyes cracked open. Kara's strength had returned. Power coursed through every cell—the body of steel had been revitalized. Her mind, her heart, however, were another story. Long seconds passed as consciousness returned. The feel of a soft hand resting on her own brought her attention to her left and Lena asleep in the chair beside her.

Another flash, so powerful it ripped her breath from her chest and stung her eyes with threatening tears. Green eyes hovering over her own shimmering with love. And fear. Warm lips breathing life into her dying body, whispering heartfelt words of encouragement. _"Fight for us, Kara."_

Her mouth dry as the desert, Kara licked her lips, then swallowed in an effort to undo the stickiness plaguing her voice. "I always believed in you."

A sharp intake of breath, then rapidly fluttering lashes revealed those lovely green eyes overflowing with emotion. At the sight, Kara's lips curved upward in a slow-moving smile. A heavy sob broke the silence, rocking Lena's body with great force. Kara curled her fingers around Lena's and held on tight, choking back the overwhelming urge to follow her into a fit of tears. In a blink, Lena was by her side, standing on wobbly legs and showering Kara with kisses, apologies, and tears.

"Shhhh. It's okay, Lena. Breathe." Kara couldn't keep her smile from escalating despite Lena's turmoil.

"I'm so sorry, Kara. I almost-"

"No, I'm sorry." Kara reached up, bracing Lena's body tightly against her own. "So very sorry."

Lena allowed her weight to fall, sagging against Kara as exhaustion won out. "Can we just-"

"Yes, please." The words rushed out of Kara without a thought. "Stronger together, right?" Tears pooled against her skin and Kara was unsure whether they were Lena's or her own.

"Right," Lena answered through a strangled laugh. "Kara Danvers, you're my hero."

"No, Lena Luthor," Kara lifted Lena away enough to meet her eyes, "you're mine."

On her feet before Lena could even register her movement, Kara swept her up into her arms and stared into her eyes. The moment was everything and she wanted to savor every second. Lena pressed a palm against Kara's cheek and Kara leaned into it, her eyelids fluttering at the soft contact. All was right in her world once again.

"I love you so much, Lena."

"And I love you, Kara, all of you, more than anything."

With a megawatt smile that brought out the famous crinkle, Kara lowered her lips to Lena's and lost herself in the all-consuming feeling of passion. She kissed Lena like her life depended on it—deliberate, careful, and complete. In some ways, it did, but they had a new start, and this time there would be no more secrets.

**XXX**

**Thank you all so much for reading. I had a ton of fun writing this and it was a refreshing way to get the creativity flowing again. Who knows what will come next, but I hope to visit you all again soon in some form or other.**

**All the best,**

**S.W.**


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